Agnes Heinrichs, wife of Heinrich Heinrichs, in 1857 purchased property on the southwest corner of Jefferson and Capitol from the Jefferson City Land Company for $2,097. On this property, the Heinrichses built a house and a business manufacturing furniture. This business would eventually evolve into the first funeral home in Jefferson City.
Prussian natives, the Heinrichses arrived in New Orleans in 1851 with their many children. On the passenger list were: Heinrich, 55; Agnes, 50; Jacob, 23; Johann, 20; Mathilda, 16; Joseph, 18; Lina, 14; Heinrich, 12; Theresia, 7; Agnes, 6; Wilhelm, 5; and Johann, 3. The youngest, Johann, may have been the son of Jacob.
The 1860 census shows the Heinrich family with a furniture store and six of the children living with them including: Jacob, a carpenter; Henry, a bookkeeper; William, age 15, a laborer; and John, aged 13, some names Americanized. The two daughters Theresa and Agnes were domestic servants.
Jacob and Henry would later be listed as cabinet makers and would take over the business. In 1867, Jacob had an ad in the paper as an undertaker. “All kinds of coffins constantly on hand, at the old stand on Jefferson Street near the Levee.”
By the 1870 census, Henrichs had died, and Agnes was living with Jacob, an undertaker, William, a barber, and John, a clerk. Henry Heinrichs, a cabinet maker, and his family are listed next door.
In 1874, the Heinrichs children lost their mother, Agnes. And before her estate was settled, Henry’s house and the furniture business were lost in a fire in February 1876. According to The State Journal, “Tuesday night the alarm of fire rang out on the sharp wintry air. Few were on the streets. But in a twinkling, everyone was rushing in the direction of the great bright light
